


The Christmas Elephant

by Katiegirl901



Category: NCIS
Genre: Cheesy, Christmas, F/M, Family, Gen, Slibbs, Twelve Days of Fic-mas, Twelve Days of Slibbs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:02:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21768823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katiegirl901/pseuds/Katiegirl901
Summary: They hadn't spent a Christmas apart since she had moved to DC. It was never planned, it just was. Bourbon, Boat, Basement, the three B’s. When she thought of Christmas that was what she associated with the holiday, that and dazzling blue eyes. So four B’s really.
Relationships: Jethro Gibbs/Jacqueline "Jack" Sloane
Comments: 18
Kudos: 138
Collections: 12 Days of Slibbs





	1. The Christmas Elephant

**Author's Note:**

> So because I'm a hot dumpster fire this will probably run a little longer than up until Christmas... Exam season and some unexpected work stuff really set the writing back and as of right now I'm only about a quarter done, yes I'm aware I suck, so this may actually run up to New Years, but I'll get it done I promise... Anyways I hope you guys enjoy!

**CHRISTMAS ELEPHANT**

They hadn't spent a Christmas apart since she had moved to DC. It was never planned, it just was. Bourbon, Boat, Basement, the three B’s. When she thought of Christmas that was what she associated with the holiday, that and dazzling blue eyes. So four B’s really.

She pulled into his driveway and shut off her car. The late afternoon sun was already starting to fade and she silently cursed the lack of daylight during East Coast winters. If it weren’t for the people she seriously doubted she would tolerate the bullshit they labeled as winter in DC. She grabbed her purse and the bags of snacks off of her passenger seat. She shut her car door with her hip and carefully made her way up the now familiar front steps. She tried to shift her bags to one hand but found it impossible with absolutely insane amount of crap the group insisted on for their poker nights. She was halfway through deciding what to simply put on the ground when the front door opened to reveal none other than Gibbs watching her with a raised eyebrow.

“You okay there, Jack?”

She rolled her eyes at him and stepped into the house, “You could offer to help.”

He took the bags out of her hand and wandered into the living room, “Did you buy the whole grocery store?”

She snorted quietly at his muted question as she pulled off her boots and hung up her jacket and scarf on the old wooden coat rack.

“It’s not my fault our friends are insanely picky!” She called out as she rounded into the living room, “Did a bomb go off in here?”

She surveyed the mess of boxes scattered around the living room and raised an eyebrow at the small, bare tree sitting in his window.

“Thought we could decorate the tree.” He replied as he walked into the living room.

She smirked at him, “So this is why you invited me over early?”

“You don’t have a tree.” He pointed out, “Thought you might like to help with mine.”

She bit her lip and studied him before quirking her eyebrow and offering him a half grin, “Alright Cowboy, I’ll help you on one condition.”

The look on his face told her that he was mildly concerned but more than mildly entertained by her counter offer, he nodded as if to say _proceed_.

“We do it on my terms.” She continued cheekily, “That means you build a fire, I put on some Christmas music or we put a Christmas movie on that old brick and get to work.”

He chuckled and nodded, “I’ll get the fire going.”

She nodded and motioned to the kitchen, she would love a hot chocolate but she wasn’t going to push her luck, she’d settle for a beer.

“Want a beer?” She called over her shoulder.

“Got one open on the counter.”

Sure enough she spotted the open bottle of beer sitting on the kitchen counter, she grabbed a bottle of beer out of the six pack she had brought and deposited the rest in the fridge before making her way back into the living room where Gibbs had a decent fire started.

“Alrighty, Cowboy we’ve got two hours before the three stooges show up, music or movie?”

He glanced up at her from his crouched position and shrugged, “Music for now I guess.” He gave her a light glare, “Not that crappy new stuff.”

She snorted at his addition and nodded, “Deal, give me two minutes.”

She grabbed her phone out of her purse and quickly put together a playlist of traditional Christmas music. She turned it on low as Gibbs stood up from the fire and offered him a small smile before studying him. His blue eyes raked over her and she couldn’t help but noticed the way his gaze lingered before meeting her eyes again.

“You okay there?” She asked.

He shook his head slightly and then nodded, “Fine. Wanna get started on the tree?”

“Sure.” She replied softly, “Just tell me where you want everything.”

“It’s a tree, Jack.”

“Some people are particular.” She countered, “And both times I’ve seen your tree it’s looked exactly the same.”

“It doesn’t matter where ya put stuff.”

Jack raised an eyebrow and had to make a solid effort not to make a smart ass retort.

“Depending on the situation I would beg to differ.”

So her solid effort was pretty weak but judging by the amused smirk on Gibbs’ face her comment had hit its mark. With a small chuckle he picked up a shoe box and put it on the coffee table before opening the lid. Jack leaned forward to get a glimpse of the contents of the box and smiled at the old ornaments.

“They were my mom’s.” Gibbs explained quietly.

“They’re beautiful.” She commented softly.

Gibbs handed her an ornament and gestured to the tree. They worked in comfortable silence for a few minutes until they had emptied the box. Gibbs grabbed the next one and opened it a small but fond smile that was mixed with sadness. Jack glanced down at the box and recognized the handmade ornaments.

“Kelly made those.” She whispered.

“One for every year she was alive.” Gibbs replied quietly, “Shannon made the first few but Kel started when she was about three.”

Jack glanced at him and silently picked up her favourite out of all of the ornaments, a Christmas tree made out of popsicle sticks with _To Daddy, Love Kelly_ written across the front.

“That was the last one.”

She glanced up and saw the heartbreak in his eyes. She knew if it was anyone but her he wouldn’t let it show, hell he probably wouldn’t show them the ornaments in the first place, not up close and off of the tree. She reached out and gently took his hand, she didn’t say anything but she knew by the way he squeezed her hand that he appreciated the silent offer of comfort. She held out the ornament to him but he shook his head and nodded towards the tree.

She reached out and carefully hung the ornament on the tree, she stood back to make sure that she had put the ornament where it had been the last two years and looked over at Gibbs who nodded his approval. They worked in comfortable silence as _Silent Night_ played on in the background. After a couple more minutes the small tree was decorated and Gibbs was tidying up the boxes while Jack sat in front of the fire and watched him with a small grin.

“Gibbs?”

He glanced up at Jack and raised an eyebrow.

She grinned impishly. “I brought marshmallows.”

He shook his head and chuckled, he knew her well enough to know exactly what she was hinting at.

“Hot chocolate or s’mores?”

She gave him her best innocent look and batted her eyelashes, “Both?”

He outright laughed at her but nodded his head, “Go. Make your hot chocolate while I finish cleaning.”

She pushed herself off the ground, “And the s’mores? I know for a fact that you’ve got a secret stash of chocolate around here, Cowboy, and I brought graham crackers.”

He rolled his eyes at how giddy she was, “Why didn’t you bring chocolate?”

“Because I know you keep some in the drawer next to the fridge.” Jack called over her shoulder, “I’ve got your number, Gibbs.”

She could almost hear him shaking his head as she grabbed everything she needed to make hot chocolate. She wasn’t sure when she had learned exactly where he kept everything in his kitchen, but two years of spending the night after have a few too many at poker night or spending the night for cases and she had just picked it up along the way. She was putting a pot full of milk on the stove when she felt his presence in the room.

“All done cleaning up?”

“Yup.”

She felt his hand on her lower back as he leaned past her to grab two mugs out of the cupboard beside her and tried her best not to flush at the feeling. They had never been good with the concept of personal space, with everyone else, sure, with each other not so much. It was as if some invisible force drew them together again and again but since he had gifted her the painting that hung proudly behind her desk the contact had been more often and lingered more than ever before. She certainly wasn’t complaining, hell she wished he would touch her more often and in significantly less innocent places but she wasn’t going to push him. They had never outright discussed the elephant in the room as it was but things had shifted since their silent conversation, not enough to call it a relationship per say but definitely something more than simply friends.

Jack was settled in front of the fire place, a s’more in more hand and her hot chocolate in the other when the front door swung open, she heard the mixed voices of Leon, Grace and Tobias calling out hello. Gibbs waved at her to stay where she was and got up to greet all of them. She took the first bite of her s’more and moaned at the sugary taste.

“Fuck, that’s a good s’more.” She sighed happily.

“Your Army is showin’ there, Jack.” Gibbs stated from the doorway.

Jack glanced over to see everyone standing there and shrugged, “Only when I’ve got something good in my mouth, Cowboy.”

She heard Tobias’ snort and Grace’s outright laughter and saw Leon’s raised eyebrow and the look of slightly slack jawed disbelief on Gibbs’ face.

She shrugged again, “I said it and I meant it.”

Tobias laughed and clapped his hands together, “Alright, enough of whatever that was, we’ve got a game to play.”

“You mean you’ve got money to lose.” Grace countered as she followed the small group into the dining room.

Jack chuckled as she listened to the group banter as they set themselves up, she glanced over and saw Gibbs waiting for her, unmoving from his spot in the entrance to the living room.

“Go ahead, I’ve gotta check something really quick.”

He nodded and pushed off the wall leaving her alone in the living room. She finished the last bite of her S’more and wiped her hands before reaching for her purse. She carefully dug through it until she found what she was looking for. She pulled the small wooden ornament out and studied it for a moment, it was small and relatively free of detail but she had made it herself. She hung it on the tree and stepped back to admire her handy work

“Come on, Jack!” Tobias called impatiently.

She spared one more glance at the ornament and smiled, it was her own little elephant in the room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter veers a little more towards M-Rated near the end... I can't even explain it it just happened... This meets the prompt for Mistletoe and Office Christmas party.

**RUMOURS AND MISTLETOE**

She capped her lipstick and took another look in the mirror. It was rare that she put a lot of effort into her hair and makeup, she liked to look nice but during the week she went for a more natural look, a look that allowed her an extra fifteen minutes of sleep in the morning. A look that she liked because she felt comfortable in it but she knew that she needed to put in a bit more effort for the NCIS Christmas party, it wasn’t a ball by any means but it was a semi-formal affair that allowed everyone to dress up a bit.

She had braided her hair back into a classy bun with curled tendrils framing her face, she had done her eyes slightly smokier than she normally did and had used a lipstick two shades darker than she normally did. All of that paired with the knee length lace, Burgundy dress that brought out her blonde hair and hazel eyes. She had debated a navy blue dress, she knew a certain special Agent always did a double take when she wore that colour but it was a Christmas party after all and she had been dying to wear the dress that hugged her curves and dipped low enough to be sexy but still appropriate for a work function. She had opted for a pair of diamond earrings that had belonged to her mother with tanzanite stones as the centrepiece with a matching necklace that she knew would draw his eyes.

She had never been one to dress with a man in mind, sure she liked to look nice for dates but that had always been more for her own confidence than for the pleasure of her date. She shook her head and rolled her eyes at herself in the mirror, this wasn’t a date, she wasn’t even sure he would show up. She glanced at the Rorschach print that had found a spot on her dresser and thought about the painting hanging in her office. Maybe it wasn’t a date and maybe they were nothing more than friends but they had definitely taken a step towards acknowledging that there was _something_ going on between them.

She glanced herself in the mirror one more time before shrugging, maybe she _was_ dressing to impress him, there was nothing wrong with that, not when he had gone out of his way to give her one of the most thoughtful and meaningful Christmas gifts she had ever received.

N*C*I*S

Gibbs stepped off the elevator into the converted conference hall with a small sigh. He could grudgingly admit that they did a good job decorating for the annual staff Christmas party, even if it was the last place on earth he wanted to be. He had spent two hours after a week of non-stop cases doing homework with Phineas and would rather be spending the night in his basement than surrounded by colleagues he didn’t really like or care to know.

He made a beeline for the bar and glared at the bartender when he offered him eggnog. He muttered his order and accepted the bourbon with a small nod before swallowing a mouthful. He spotted Ellie, Nick, Tim and Delilah already seated around a table in the corner and jerked his chin in their direction when Delilah waved him over. The room was already swarming with agents and support staff, probably because he had made a point to arrive at least fifteen minutes after the specified start time. He edged his way through the crowed, stopping to glare every once in awhile when a probie bumped into him or someone attempted to talk to him before finally arriving at the small table his team had commandeered.

“Hey, Boss.” Tim greeted.

He nodded and pulled up a chair from an adjoining table, “D.O.D Delilah.”

Delilah grinned at the nickname, “Hey, Gibbs.”

He had a soft spot for his oldest agents wife, he liked her sass and the way she challenged Tim. He also liked that she looked at him as an equal, she had never cowered around him and insisted on meeting him joke for joke, jab for jab and he enjoyed their easy friendship.

The rest of his agents gave him a quick hello before returning to whatever they had been talking about prior to his arrival, slowly Breena, Jimmy, Leon and Fornell arrived.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow when the former FBI agent pulled up a chair, “What’re you doin’ here?”

“Leon didn’t have a date.” Fornell replied with a shrug.

“I asked Grace first.” Leon supplied, “She had other plans.”

“Way to make a guy feel special.”

Gibbs snorted at Fornell’s dramatics and took another swig of his bourbon.

“I was going to ask Jack.” Leon said studying Gibbs carefully, “But I figured someone else would’ve beaten me to the punch.”

He had been tempted. He couldn’t even lie to himself about that but he hadn’t been able to work up the nerve, something he regretted now that he knew Leon hadn’t asked her. The men on his team had been oblivious to their conversation but Ellie, Breena and Delilah were looking at them with raised eyebrows.

He took another drink and did his best to ignore the women until they returned to their conversation. Five minutes later they all paused their conversation and focused on something behind his head. He fought the urge to turn around and didn’t know what they were looking at until a flash of Burgundy appeared at his side, he glanced over to see Jack pulling a chair up beside him and it took all of his effort to not visibly react to her outfit.

Her dressed hugged her curves perfectly, the knee length lace drew his eyes to her legs and he couldn’t stop his eyes from doing a full examination of her.

“So.” McGee’s voice brought him out of his trance and he turned to see his senior agent gesturing between him and Jack, “Did you plan to match.”

He glanced over at Jack and then down at himself and sure enough his tie matched her dress perfectly, paired with his navy blue suit that matched her jewelry.

Jack chuckled and shook her head, “We did not plan it.” She narrowed her eyes at something on Gibbs’ suit and reached out to brush something off of his lapel, “If we had I would’ve worn glitter too.”

He glanced down to find a small spec of silver glitter on the lapel of his jacket and silently cursed Phineas’ art teacher.

“Every Daddy’s nightmare.” Jimmy and Tim muttered together.

“Are you stripping on the side, Jethro?” Tobias teased.

Gibbs glared at him and brushed the glitter off of his suit before turning to Jack who gave him a small nod.

“All gone.” She replied quietly, “Does Phin have a new project?”

“Some art thing for Christmas.” Gibbs replied, “Dining room is full of glitter.”

“Is Sarah off tonight?”

“Yeah, I have him tomorrow morning though, she’s got the breakfast shift.”

“Ah.” Jack replied knowingly, “A solid reason to leave early.”

“Somethin’ like that.”

He pushed back his chair and held up his empty glass to let whoever cared to know where he was going. She gave him a small nod and stood.

“I got it.” He replied waving her off, after two years he knew what she liked without having to ask.

The walk back to the bar was even more annoying than it had been previously and by the time he returned to the table he was grinding his teeth in irritation. His irritation only increased when he saw Jack’s empty chair.

“Roger from HR got her.” Tobias explained.

Leon, Ellie, Jimmy, Breena and Nick were also all missing from the table but that didn’t bother him, and the fact that it didn’t bother him bothered him more than he cared to admit. He didn’t like having weaknesses but Jack had been one of his biggest weaknesses since blowing into his life during the biggest storm of the year.

He placed their drinks on the table and dropped down into his chair before letting his eyes roam around the room until he spotted Jack. She had a smile on her face but he could tell she wasn’t entirely thrilled with her situation. He was watching Roger’s hand slide dangerously low on her back and was about to intervene when he saw Leon tap the other man on the shoulder and, from what Gibbs could tell, politely ask to cut in. He could see the relief on Jack’s face as Leon pulled her into his arms to finish up the dance. Despite knowing that their relationship was purely platonic he felt the overwhelming feeling of protectiveness he had been feeling replaced with a small amount of jealousy towards the man who was holding Jack so close.

“If you glare any harder she’s going to burst into flames.” Tobias commented dryly.

He heard Delilah’s soft laughter and a strangled chuckle from Tim and turned his glare onto them. Tim immediately swallowed his laughter and looked appropriately chastised while Delilah just offered him a knowing grin.

“So Boss did you work things out with Sarah?” McGee asked.

Gibbs took a sip of his drink and nodded, the song was drawing to a close and within a minute everyone had rejoined them at the table. Jack grabbed her drink and shot him a quick thank you as well as a wide grin.

An hour, and another drink, went by with people coming and going from their table, other agents stopped by to chat, people moved around to dance. By the end of the hour Gibbs wasn’t sure who would explode first, him or Nick. Nick’s expression had goten darker every time Ellie got up to dance with one agent or another, the only time he had visibly relaxed was when Ducky, Jimmy and McGee had taken their turns dancing with the young blonde. He saw another agent approaching, one he knew Nick had a particular dislike for and knew that it could only go badly.

He saw Ellie’s eyes widen in distaste as she notice Agent Clarkson approaching and knew she would happily accept any way out of having to dance with the other agent.

“Gibbs?” She asked quietly, her eyes shifting to him and then over his shoulder, “Wanna dance?”

She did her best wide eyed puppy look and even if he hadn’t already resigned himself to his fate he was certain he couldn’t have said no to her anyway.

He pushed himself up with a sigh and held out his hand to her. She quickly accepted it and followed him out to the dance floor.

“Do you think he could have said no to her?”

Jimmy’s voice was so quiet that had he not been listening for some sort of comment from his team about him dancing he probably wouldn’t have heard it.

“She’s his baby, you think he was going to leave her to Agent Clarkson?” Fornell retorted.

Gibbs smirked at his best friends reply before stepping onto the dance floor with Ellie and pulling her closer, one hand still holding hers and the other resting on her hip.

“Thank you for saving me.” Ellie muttered a minute into the song.

“Wasn’t just for you. Torres’ head was gonna explode if you danced with one more person that wasn’t him.”

“I’m dancing with you.” Ellie reminded him playfully.

“Different.” He replied gruffly.

Ellie nodded her agreement and relaxed into the music, she didn’t speak again until almost the end of the song when she caught sight of something over her shoulder.

“Looks like I’m not the only one who needs saving.” She commented quietly.

Gibbs turned them so he could see who she was looking at and rolled his eyes when he saw Jack dancing with one of the agents from legal.

“You know it would make her Christmas if you asked her to dance.”

Gibbs glared down at his ‘daughter’ and saw the mischief dancing in her brown eyes.

“Besides it’s not like you to leave a teammate in distress.”

“Jack can handle herself.”

Ellie nodded, “And she has been all night, maybe she’d like a break though.”

Damn but she knew exactly which of his buttons to push to get him to do something. He gave a resigned sigh as Ellie dropped his hand.

“Go, make her night.” She ordered gently, “And thank you for the dance, and the save.”

He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, not something he would normally do surrounded by other people but he felt like he owed her for the nudge he had needed all night.

“Go put Torres outta his misery.”

“Nah.” Ellie replied impishly, “I want him to suffer a little bit more.”

He snorted as she wandered back to the table before he turned to Jack who was looking more and more done with the entire night with every passing second. He moved over to where she and Agent Wilson from legal were dancing and not so gently tapped the other man on the shoulder.

“Can I cut in?” His glare made it less of a question and more of a demand and the other agent nodded before slinking off.

He stepped forward and offered a hand to Jack just as a new slow song started to play. They had been alternating between Christmas music and regular music all night and he vaguely recognized the opening chords to the soft country music. He’d had every intention of keeping the dance completely platonic much the way he had with Ellie but Jack dropped his hand and wrapped her arms around his neck instead. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her waist as the first words began to play.

_Girl, you know I've known you forever_

_How many nights we hung out together_

Jack offered him a grin, “Thanks for the save, Cowboy.”

He smiled back at her but didn’t reply, his eyes wandered from her grin to her earrings, the soft way her hair fell around her face, the way her necklace hung and back up to her eyes. The hazel eyes that caught his attention every time he looked at her were sparkling and he could see how happy and relaxed she was as they slowly moved around the dance floor.

_There's a rumor going 'round about me and you_

_Stirring up our little town the last week or two_

_So tell me why we even trying to deny this feeling_

_I feel it, don't you feel it too?_

He listened to the lyrics and couldn’t help but see the irony in them. He reached up and involuntarily brushed a strand of blonde hair out of Jack’s face and smirked at the light blush that covered her cheeks. He tried to focus on the way she felt against him, he knew he would never forget the feeling of her body molded perfectly into his and at the same time tried not to focus too much on how it felt lest he embarrass himself in a very public setting.

_Well I can shut 'em down, tell 'em all they're crazy_

_I can do whatever you want me to do, baby_

_Or you could lay one on me right now_

_We could really give them something to talk about_

The song picked up slightly and Gibbs pulled one of Jack’s hands off of his neck to close it in his and carefully spun her. Her laughter ran out and he couldn’t stop the wide smile on his face as she stepped back into him.

“Didn’t know you had it in you, Cowboy.”

“Know how to dance, Jack.”

“I can see that.” She replied softly.

_There's a rumor going 'round, and 'round, and 'round_

_What d'you say we make it_

_Make it true_

_What d'you say we make it true?_

_Come on over here_

_Let's really give them something to talk about, baby_

_(Talk about, baby) there's a rumor going 'round_

The song came to an end and Gibbs reluctantly let Jack go, she stepped back with a soft smile and gave his hand a quick squeeze before dropping it. He followed her back to the table with his hand on her lower back and pulled out her chair for her.

N*C*I*S

The rest of the night passed by in a blur of activity, a few more agents had attempted to approach the table to ask either her or Ellie to dance but Jack knew the glares from Gibbs and Torres were enough to scare anyone away. By the end of the night Nick had finally worked up the nerve to ask Ellie to dance and even though she saw him tense at the idea she knew Gibbs was silently proud of the younger man for working up the balls to ask. That had been half an hour prior and since then they had all been filtering out. McGee and Delilah had been the first to go followed shortly after by the Palmers and Ducky. Leon had to stay until the end and Jack, Fornell and surprisingly Gibbs had hung around to keep him company.

Jack stood up as soon as the room was mostly empty and excused herself, she said a quick goodnight to the guys before making her way out of the conference hall. She was watching the elevator doors slide shut when a hand stuck through to stop them. She raised an eyebrow as Gibbs slid through the doors.

“Finally making your escape?” She asked with a grin.

“Yeah.” Gibbs replied.

She laughed. “I’m surprised you lasted as long as you did.”

He glanced down at her and shrugged, “had good company.”

She blushed when she saw the meaningful look he was giving her and tilted her head up to look at the ceiling, anywhere but at him. She noticed the small clump of mistletoe hanging above and smirked at the bitter irony of it. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Gibbs tilt his head up and knew he saw the same thing when the tips of his ears turned the lightest shade of red.

She expected him to pretend it wasn’t there and jolted when the elevator suddenly stopped and went dark. She turned to him with a raised eyebrow. She lowered her eyebrow when she saw the serious look on his face.

“You okay there, Gibbs?”

He swallowed and stepped forward, “Didn’t want to get interrupted when I did this.” He replied huskily.

She was about to ask what he was going to do when he placed a hand at the back of her neck and leaned down to gently press his lips against her forehead. She felt a swell of disappointment that quickly vanished when her eyes met his as he pulled back. She could see the silent question there, the unspoken request for permission and she silently nodded.

She had imagined kissing him, imagined doing a lot more to him than just kissing, more times than she cared to admit but despite it being a simple peck on the lips the reality far surpassed her imagination.

He pulled back almost immediately but she reached up and grabbed his lapel and pulled him back to her for a much less chaste kiss. Her hands slid up his shoulders and around the back of his neck as she deepened the kiss, her tongue darting out to meet his with a quiet moan. She pressed herself up the length of him and moaned again when one hand pressed into her lower back to keep her still while the other moved up to try and tangle in her hair. It had been a long time since the simple act of making out had turned her on so much but as she felt Gibbs step forward and wordlessly pre her backinto the elevator wall she came to the conclusion that she would gladly let him pull her dress up around her hips and have his way with her right then and there. His hand gripped the back of her dress and she was sure he was about to do just that when he pulled back from the kiss with a breathless gasp.

“Can’t do this, Jack.” He held up his hand when she tensed in his arms, “not here… Don’t wanna risk getting caught and I really want to take my time.”

She nodded and tilted her head up to kiss him lightly, “You had me worried that you weren’t interested, Cowboy.”

He rocked his hips against hers and she grinned at the feel the beginnings of a very promising erection against her stomach.

“That feel like I’m not interested, Sloane?” He moved the hand that was tangled in her hair to rest it against her cheek, “I’m more worried that you won’t be interested.” He added more seriously.

She could see the hesitation and slight insecurity written all over his face and she couldn’t help but think how wrong it looked on the normally confident and self-assured man. She turned her head to kiss the inside of his palm before grabbing his hand. She held his eyes as she guided his hand up under her dress and let him brush his fingers over her already damp panties. She saw his eyes darken and heard his quiet groan as he slipped a finger under the fabric and felt just how wet she was. It was her turn to moan when he brushed his finger over her clit and it took all of her willpower not to grind down on his hand and relieve some of the ache she was feeling.

“That all for me, Jack?”

The gruffness in his voice, the quiet sense of awe and the way he paired it with another swipe over her clit made her whimper and clench her thighs together effectively trapping his hand there.

“Answer the question, Lieutenant.”

Her nails bit into the back of his neck as he slid a finger into her and she couldn’t stop her hips from rutting against him, a quiet moan escaped as she slowly lifted her eyes to meet his.

“All for you.” She whispered, “Take me home, Cowboy.”

She saw his eyes darken as he leaned down to brush another kiss over her lips before slipping his hand out of her panties.

“Whatever you want, Jack.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song featured is Rumour by Lee Brice, I don't own anything.


	3. Pancakes and a Snowman

PANCAKES AND A SNOWMAN

The things that man could do with his tongue should have been illegal. That, and the overwhelming pleasure of said things, was the only thing on her half melted mind the next morning. They had both woken early and Gibbs had made quick work of slipping under the covers and burying his face between her thighs and within minutes had her reduced to a gasping, writhing mess, she was seconds away from begging, something she hated to do, when she heard the front door slam loudly.

“Jethro Gibbs?”

Phineas’ voice carried up the stairs and Jack threw her head back with a quiet groan as Gibbs halted what he was doing. She had been so close but there was no way she was finishing now, not with the threat of Phineas walking in at any moment.

“Son of a bitch.” She shifted as Gibbs quickly climbed out from under the covers and reached for a shirt on the bedside table.

“Be down in a minute, Phin!”

She winced at his loud voice almost directly in her ear and leaned over to grab Gibbs’ undershirt from the night before to pull over her head. She rolled out of bed and grabbed a pair of leggings out of her go bag before turning to Gibbs

“Go take a shower, I’ve got him.”

He opened his mouth to protest but she held up her hand to silence him.

Her eyes shifted to the erection still tenting his boxers “You really think you’re in any shape to go downstairs right now?”

He rolled his eyes but she could see he was going to agree with her. He grabbed a fresh pair of clothes and was about to pass her to go into the bathroom when she stopped him with a hand on his chest.

“You owe me one tonight.” She whispered huskily, “I was close.”

Gibbs nodded and sighed at their luck, “I forgot he was coming this morning.” He leaned down to give her a quick kiss, “I’ll make it up to you.”

She gave a quiet noise of assent before pushing away from him. She pulled her hair up into a messy bun and checked her reflection in the mirror, she didn’t look fabulous but she didn’t look too disheveled either.

She made her way downstairs and found Phineas already settled on the couch playing on his phone.

“Good morning, Phin.” She offered him a grin.

“Hi Jack!” Phin replied, his surprise on his face, “Are you hanging out with Jethro Gibbs and I today?”

“If that’s okay with you.”

“It’ll be fun.” He replied excitedly.

“I think so.” Jack winked and nodded towards the kitchen, “Have you eaten breakfast yet?”

“Not yet.”

She wasn’t surprised, it was barely seven o’clock, she doubted he had even been awake for that long.

“How about pancakes?” She asked, “I’m sure Gibbs has the stuff we’ll need.”

She had noticed at their last poker game that he had gotten better at keeping his cupboards stocked with real food rather than just cereal and takeout menus, and she had a feeling that most of that had to do with the little boy sitting in front of her.She made her way into the kitchen and immediately set about making a pot of coffee before doing anything else, she liked her sleep and she had gotten very little of it the night before and she knew she’d start to feel it before too long.

By the time Gibbs wandered down the stairs she was starting the first batch of pancakes and Phin had relocated to the dining room to play on his phone.

“Did your momsay that you could have screen time?”

His gruff question made her smile, she liked seeing this side of him. She saw him on the daily with his team, just seeing that told her that he had been and still was a good father but seeing him with someone as young as Phineas made her see it even more. It also made her wonder. She opened the cupboard to her left and pulled out a mug for Gibbs and ran her fingers over the rough KG carved into the door. A reminder of another one of his children, one gone far too soon. She softly closed the cupboard door just as she felt Gibbs’ hand settle over her lower back.

She glanced over her shoulder to make sure Phin was still in the dining room and turned to press her lips to his. She drew back from the kiss and leaned forward so her lips were right night to his ear.

“How was your shower?”

She heard him chuckle as she leaned into him.

“Cold.”

She couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled up, “I made you coffee.”

He grabbed the mug sitting on the counter and filled it, “Might have to keep you.”

It was muttered so low that she barely heard it but it made her smile happily none-the-less. She turned her attention back to the pancakes and watched Gibbs out of the corner of her eye as he pulled plates, syrup and a bag of powdered sugar from the cupboard.

“Do you have any chocolate milk, Jethro Gibbs?”

She glanced over her shoulder to see Phin leaning against the doorway and watched as Gibbs pulled the requested container out of the fridge. The picture of him buying chocolate milk made her chuckle quietly and she felt his mild glare against his back.

“That look doesn’t work on me, Cowboy.” She flipped the pancakes onto a plate, “Nice try though.” She handed him the plate, “Bring these to Phin please.”

She heard him mutter something under his breath but chose to ignore it. She poured herself another cup of coffee and dumped sugar into it, making a mental note to buy him more sugar as she did so, since she was the only person to use it.

She finished her latest batch of pancakes and flipped them onto a plate just as Gibbs wandered back into the kitchen.

She offered him the plate. “Here you go, Cowboy.”

“You go eat, I’ll finish up.”

“The chivalry is commendable but I can handle it.” She replied, her eyes twinkling as she turned back to the pan, “Go on, keep Phin company.”

N*C*I*S

By the time they were done doing the breakfast dishes Phin was considerably more awake and ready to get on with the day, something that amused Jack to no end and had Gibbs pretending to be annoyed.

“Come on, Jethro Gibbs!” Phin exclaimed, “There’s snow on the ground, it’s the perfect day to make a snowman.”

“I don’t think he owns any carrots for a nose.” Jack whispered dramatically.

“Enough outta you.” Gibbs growled playfully, “I’ve got carrots, if we’re going outside you need to put on your snow suit, Phin.”

Phin made a face at the request but dutifully spun on his heel to go find his snowsuit.

“Do I need a snow suit?” Jack teased.

“Would rather you just wear nothing.”

Her eyes darkened at the suggestive though but she quickly grinned, “As fun as that sounds it might scar Phin.”

Gibbs shrugged. “He’d get over it.”

She ignored the smart ass comment and went in search of her own jacket, mitts, hat and scarf. She found all of her belongings in the foyer as well as Phin who was struggling to do the zipper on his jacket while wearing large gloves.

“Want some help there?”

“I can’t get it with these dumb gloves.” He huffed in frustration.

Jack smiled and crouched down in front of him and easily zipped up his jacket.

“There you go.” She grabbed his hat and pulled it over his head, covering his eyes.

Phin giggled and pushed the hat up, “I can’t see like that.”

Jack widened her eyes dramatically, “I thought you had x-ray vision!”

Phin laughed and shook his head, “That would be cool though.”

“So cool.” Jack agreed, before straightening out his scarf, “Alright, you’re good to go, head on out back, we’ll be out in a minute.”

She stood up with a quiet groan, her knees protesting her position, and turned around to find Gibbs watching her with a look she couldn’t quite place on his face.

“You’re good with him.”

His quiet comment caught her off guard and she just shrugged in reply.

“Kids are easy.” She grabbed her jacket off the coat rack, “They can’t lie, I like that.”

Another strange look crossed his face but she didn’t question it as he walked over to grab his own jacket and gloves. She was about to let herself out the front door when she felt his hand close loosely around her arm, she turned around to face him and was met with his lips on hers. She returned the kiss and pulled back slowly.

“What was that for?” She asked quietly.

He shrugged, “Cause I can.”

She chuckled at his impish grin stepped around him, “Come on, Cowboy, there’s a little boy waiting for us outside.”

She braced herself for the cool air as she let herself outside and into the backyard where Phin was already working on building a base for a snowman.

“Come on, Jack!” Phin puffed as the snowball grew larger, “I want him to be really big, I’m gonna need help.”

Jack looked down at her perfectly dry jeans and silently accepted the fact that she probably wouldn’t get out of this without having to run back to her apartment for a change of clothes. She had grabbed her current outfit from the go bag in her car but didn’t have any other clothes besides her dress from the party the night before on hand.

By the time Gibbs joined them outside in his own jacket, mits and a hat that made Jack wish she had a camera on hand, they were done the base of their snowman and working on the middle. It took a lot of maneuvering and Jack was sure both she and Gibbs would be sore later that night but they eventually got all three of the snowballs on the giant snowman.

“Okay now he needs a face.” Phin instructed.

Gibbs chuckled at his excited tone and Jack clapped her hands together, both in excitement and in an attempt to warm them up. She volunteered to go inside to get a carrot for the nose while the boys dug around for rocks to make a face.

She snuck her phone into her pocket when she went inside and gathered everything she needed before heading back outside.

It took two minutes to finish the snowman and Jack pulled out her phone and motioned for the boys to stand in front of it. She smiled when she saw the proud smirks on both of their faces and snapped a few quick pictures.

“Okay, now let me take one of you and Jethro Gibbs!” Phin exclaimed.

Jack opened her mouth to protest but Gibbs waved her over and wrapped an arm around her shoulder while Phin took pictures.

Her teeth were chattering and she was freezing but she couldn’t help but love the DC winter in that moment, snuggled into Gibbs’ side as Phineas snapped pictures and laughed loudly.


	4. Christmas Cookies

CHRISTMAS COOKIES

She loved sugar and anything sweet, candy was at the top of her list followed closely by marshmallows and hot chocolate but cookies were easily the third thing on her list and as she poured over cookie recipes on her laptop she couldn’t choose which would be the best.

“You working?”

She glanced up from her spot on the couch and brushed her hair behind her ear as she studied Gibbs. He was in old jeans, his signature red hoodie. He was covered in sawdust and his safety glasses were sitting on the top of his head.

“No, I’m looking for cookies to make with Tori tomorrow.”

He pushed off the wall and sauntered over to her to see what she was looking at.

He pointed to the picture of gingerbread men at the top of the page, “Those look good.”

“I already saved those, I was thinking those and maybe some sugar cookies or shortbread.”

“Whatever you want, Jack.” He replied easily, “You really don’t need to help if you don’t want to.”

“I want to.” She assured him but then hesitation swept in, “Unless you’d rather spend the day with her alone, I can go home if you want time with your granddaughter.”

“Nope.” Gibbs replied quickly but calmly.

He leaned down and gently pressed his lips to hers, “Want you here, Jack.” He kissed her again before pulling back, “Wanna spend Christmas with you… If you wanna be here.”

She studied his face but couldn’t find any hint that he was lying so she finally nodded, “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” She admitted softly, she hesitated for a moment, “I’m all in, Jethro.”

She could see his eyes darken at the use of his first name and silently filed that fact away for later. They hadn’t talked about what they were, they had barely been more than friends for twenty-four hours and maybe it was too early to declare her commitment but she wanted him to know she wasn’t looking for casual. If he wanted casual she needed to know so she could save herself a world of hurt, even though it was far too late for that. She would never admit it out loud but she had fallen head over heels for the man in front of her and if he rejected her now it would take her a long time to bounce back from that.

His eyes searched hers for a moment before he slowly nodded, “Me too, Jack.” He brushed a strand of hair back from her face, “I’m… I’m no good at this.”

“Neither am I.” She dismissed easily, “We’ll learn together… Just like we have with everything else.”

They had learned to trust with each other, there was no one else she trusted more than the man in front of her. At one point she would have said Leon but she had given Gibbs her heart, he had seen her vulnerable in more ways than anyone else on the planet and she knew without being told that he felt the same about her. They had learned to trust with each other and to some degree she believed they had learned to heal and maybe even love with each other.

“Don’t wanna hurt you.” He whispered.

She didn’t doubt that he could destroy her if he wanted to, she knew he would never do it intentionally but they were both hot headed, passionate people and they had both been impulsive in the heat of the moment in the past and she had no doubt they would make the same mistakes again.

“We’re both going to make mistakes.” She replied gently, “Like I said, we’ll learn from them together… I don’t want to lose my friend but I don’t want to lose this either.”

His eyes searched hers and she leaned up from her spot on the couch to pull him down for another kiss.

“We’ll figure this out.” She promised.

She smiled into the kiss when he tangled his hand in her already messy hair and shifted closer to her.

“Think the recipes can wait ‘till tomorrow morning?”

She grinned and closed her laptop, “take me upstairs, Cowboy, you need to finish what was so rudely interrupted this morning.”

He straightened up and held out his hand to her, “Yes, Ma’am.”


End file.
